A computer user of a physical or virtual machine typically starts and runs a number of applications or other software in the course of operating that machine. Some users may leave the machine and its set of applications in a running or active state for hours or days, depending on the tasks they are engaged in, the type of data being processed, and other factors. In the various intervals of operation, updates to software packages on the machine may be performed. For example, a set of applications related to an an engineering project and its associated database may be updated via a package update mechanism. In a package update, operating system, application, utility, and/or other related or associated software components may be updated in an integrated package update process, which can involve one download file or a number of download files. Users may choose to initiate package updates at different times during use of their system, or at times, package updates can be performed on an automatic and/or triggered basis.
When package updates are performed, the executable files from which running processes on the machine were launched may in fact become outdated, since the processes may now be executing using code that is no longer part of or reflected in the most recent package version installed on the machine. To ensure the most reliable or up-to-date operation of the machine, the user may wish to terminate all executing processes whose underlying executable files have become out-of-date. However, using existing operating systems and other platforms, there is no logic or utility that permits the checking of executing processes against their source packages, to determine which processes and/or applications need to be terminated and restarted, in order to take advantage of any intervening installed package updates. It may be desirable to provide systems and methods for detecting computing processes requiring reinitialization after a software package update, to permit a user to refresh the collection of executable files and executing processes in an efficient and complete manner.